Virgin Trains facts for kids
| Franchise(s): | InterCity West Coast 9 March 1997 – 14 September 2019 |
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| Main route(s): | London - Scotland London - North West London - West Midlands London - Chester |
| Other route(s): | London - Holyhead London - Shrewsbury London - Wrexham London - Blackpool |
| Fleet size: | 56 Class 390 Pendolino sets 20 Class 221 Super Voyager sets |
| Stations called at: | 48 |
| Stations operated: | 17 |
| National Rail abbreviation: | VT |
| Parent company: | Virgin Rail Group Virgin Group (51%) Stagecoach (49%) |
| Web site: | www.virgintrains.co.uk |
Virgin Trains is a train operating company in the United Kingdom. They run trains from London Euston to the North West, West Midlands and Scotland on the West Coast Main Line and trains on the East Coast Main Coast Mainline between London, Yorkshire, the North East and Scotland. Before 11 November 2007, they also ran trains linking the south and south-west of England with the north of England through Manchester and Scotland, through Birmingham, under the CrossCountry franchise. Although it is branded as part of the Virgin Group, Virgin's share in the company is only 51%, with the remaining 49% owned by Stagecoach. Virgin's share in Virgin Trains East Coast is only 10% with 90% being owned by Stagecoach, although the company is also branded under the Virgin name.
Contents
New trains
Their first trains, formerly owned by British Rail, were very old and broke down a lot, but were replaced by new ones in 2002 on the West Coast and CrossCountry lines. New trains are being built for their East Coast operations.
Gallery
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Virgin Trains 82114 Driving Van Trailer Platform 1 Glasgow Central Station, Scotland July 2000.
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Virgin Trains, Class 221 SuperVoyager, 221109 "Marco Polo" at Chester station.
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A Virgin trains Mk2 coach at Banbury in 2001. All of Virgin's old slam door stock was scraped in 2003, after safety issues on such carriages. Most are now in private collections or scrapped.
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A Class 220 Voyager at Bristol.
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A picture of a Virgin Trains' MK 3 carriage at Crewe station in the year 2000. It is in its former Inter City livery. Most are now either renovated or scrapped. They were too old to use.
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The interior of Standard Class aboard a Class 390 Pendolino.
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The interior of First Class aboard a 390 Pendolino.
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The complimentary breakfast was served to passengers in First Class aboard the Class 390 Pendolino trains before the improved service was launched in January 2009.
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Virgin Trains East Coast InterCity 125 interior
Related pages
| Preceded by InterCity' As part of British Rail |
Operator of Cross-Country franchise 1997 — 2007 |
Succeeded by CrossCountry |
| Operator of InterCity West Coast franchise 1997 — 2017 |
Incumbent | |
| Preceded by East Coast (train operating company) |
Operator of InterCity East Coast franchise 2015 — 2018 |
Succeeded by TBA |
Images for kids
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Class 390 Pendolino at Stoke-on-Trent
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A vector map showing the off-peak service pattern each hour
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Virgin Trains West Coast passenger numbers in the previous year from 2011 to 2019.
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Standard Class aboard a Class 390 Pendolino
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